Do you doubt your judgement? Are you self-critical? Do you constantly compare yourself unfavourably with others?
Living with low self-esteem, poor self-belief and feelings of inadequacy and a lack of self-confidence can leave you feeling frustrated and miserable. Your nagging self-doubt and self-critical inner voice can sap your energy, preventing you living a happy, contented life.
Counselling for low self-esteem helps by exploring the roots of your self-doubt and the source of these critical thoughts and works on developing a more positive internal voice, helping you to value yourself more fully.
I used to be confident, but I seem to have lost my self-esteem
It may be that you once had confidence and self-assurance but self-esteem issues and feelings of self-doubt have crept into your life and you can’t explain why. Or it may be that you know the exact point when things ‘went wrong’, the death of a loved one, the ending of a relationship or a major life event that has caused you trauma.
Whether it’s around relationships, love and friendship, or your career and professional life, self-worth and self-esteem issues can get in your way and, over the course of a lifetime, may be the root cause of more serious emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, loneliness and addictions.
How does counselling for low self-esteem work?
When you come to the first counselling session we will explore how these feelings may have evolved and have come to take hold. It is important to acknowledge that how we feel about ourselves can affect all areas of our lives. How we talk to ourselves can have an impact on our self-esteem. You may not even realise that you are constantly hearing a negative inner voice that is self-critical and constantly judgmental.
When we don’t value ourselves, we tend not to value others either, so it can impact on our personal, social or work relationships too.
During counselling for low self-esteem, the therapist will work with you on your critical voice and help you develop an increased capacity for taking in appreciation both from others and yourself.
Some counsellors like to use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for tackling low self-esteem.
The CBT approach helps you by teaching you to ‘pause’ when you are about to be self-critical and instead replace that voice with a more positive, measured and self-affirming inner voice. Instead of ‘I could have done better at the gym’ you will comment to yourself ‘I feel really good that I spent time on my health’.
Become a more confident ‘you’ with counselling for low self-esteem
Counsellors offer you a confidential space to be heard, your session is a quiet, safe place to voice your self-doubt without fearing any judgement or criticism. In this safe place you are able to explore the root causes of your self-doubt and consider ways to break the negative thought cycle to discover a more positive and caring view of yourself.
Take your first step to work through your lack of confidence and self-worth find counsellors for low self-esteem counselling in London.
Useful information and help around self-esteem and self-confidence
Mind.org: Confidence Tips
Mind have some excellent ‘confidence tips’ on how to build / increase / boost your confidence, thereby building your self-esteem.
Read their Self-Confidence tips
JK Rowling (author) describes how she suffered from low self-esteem and what it meant for her.
© Brian Cotsen
